But in the US, there seem to be an awful lot of outliers, and it's on the strength of those series that Netflix initially established their following: Friends, The Office, Park and Rec, Seinfeld, Community, The Walking Dead, The Blacklist, Gilmore Girls, Grey's Anatomy, West Wing, That 70's Show, Supernatural, Criminal Minds, and I could keep going, honestly, for quite a while.
So yes, there's an extent to which 5 or 8 seasons is less common, but the goal for US shows has been 100 episodes for decades now, which is usually 5 seasons of 20+ episodes each.
If Netflix is adopting a more UK-like approach, that might result in better TV eventually, but it would be nice for creators to know they have to tell their story in 16 episodes rather than 100.
That's probably in no small part due to the fact that the US version is markedly more upbeat than the UK one. I honestly cannot watch the original anymore - despite being undoubtedly better written and better produced, it's just too bleak.
I think the dream for most US actors is to get signed to a popular long-running TV show. Guaranteed work and income, with options to negotiate higher pay every few years, what's not to love? Unless you're that even-more-rare talent who can jump to movies and make more on one film than a few years of TV. But many have tried to make that leap and ended up poorer for it.
I wonder sometimes whether Robert Sheehan thinks he made a good choice leaving Misfits. He seemed very certain at the time that he would be a movie superstar, but most of what I've seen him in since is other TV shows, like the recent Umbrella Academy.
But hey, Sheehan leaving opened a spot for Joseph Gilgun, who seems to be doing pretty okay too.
In theory.
In practice, I note that the UK version of The Office was 2 6-episode series plus 2 Christmas specials, for 14 episodes total, while the US remake ran for 201 episodes, and it's the US version that people seem to re-watch endlessly around the world, despite its very rough start.